Which Centerfire caliber to choose?

[Groach 7]

Okay i recently got granted my FAC for 17hmr and 22lr both with mods and its open. My plan always was to have these for 6-12 months then put in for a cf when i have some experience so i had a better chance of getting it granted.

 

Now my problem is choosing what to apply for. It is for Roe and fox so .243 minimum i know but what i need to know is that as i have open flat land would i be better going for i higher caliber. Now i know this may seem an odd question but someone once told me that i higher caliber may be a safer round as the greater weight of the bullet means it falls faster now is this true or utter bull ****? i dont know but my understanding of physics suggests that there is some grounding in this principle but i could be wrong. But there is some good 6ft tall and about 5ft deep banks at at least one edge of most of the fields and there are no foot paths dissecting any of the fields if this helps.

 

So what do you feel about maybe going for a higher caliber? am i being stupid? and also can you recommend any good reading on the subject?

 

George

[dave1372 83]

Okay i recently got granted my FAC for 17hmr and 22lr both with mods and its open. My plan always was to have these for 6-12 months then put in for a cf when i have some experience so i had a better chance of getting it granted.

 

Now my problem is choosing what to apply for. It is for Roe and fox so .243 minimum i know but what i need to know is that as i have open flat land would i be better going for i higher caliber. Now i know this may seem an odd question but someone once told me that i higher caliber may be a safer round as the greater weight of the bullet means it falls faster now is this true or utter bull ****? i dont know but my understanding of physics suggests that there is some grounding in this principle but i could be wrong. But there is some good 6ft tall and about 5ft deep banks at at least one edge of most of the fields and there are no foot paths dissecting any of the fields if this helps.

 

So what do you feel about maybe going for a higher caliber? am i being stupid? and also can you recommend any good reading on the subject?

 

George

Trying to think about this logically (I do not claim to be a ballistics expert) you are probabally right the bullet drops quicker but the I would imagine the distance it would travel would be greater, thus cancelling out this as being the only reason to choose this calibre. I use a 22-250 calibre which is another good foxing round and is legal for shooting roe (in Scotland).

[jamie g 17]

you would think that but heavy bullets buck the wind better then lighter bullets.

 

you only have to look at 308 rifle. why does it fire heavier bullets then say 50 grain ? because you need heavy bullets to get the distance accurately.

it would be like pissing in the wind else.

 

243 is more then you need for roe and yo uwill have a choice to fire heavier bullets up to 100 grains and lighter bullets for fox . im sure you can use 55 grain for fox. but barrel wear would harsh due to speed.

 

70 or 75 grain for fox would be better i think. good weight and still very fast.

[RicW 67]

Okay i recently got granted my FAC for 17hmr and 22lr both with mods and its open. My plan always was to have these for 6-12 months then put in for a cf when i have some experience so i had a better chance of getting it granted.

 

Now my problem is choosing what to apply for. It is for Roe and fox so .243 minimum i know but what i need to know is that as i have open flat land would i be better going for i higher caliber. Now i know this may seem an odd question but someone once told me that i higher caliber may be a safer round as the greater weight of the bullet means it falls faster now is this true or utter bull ****? i dont know but my understanding of physics suggests that there is some grounding in this principle but i could be wrong. But there is some good 6ft tall and about 5ft deep banks at at least one edge of most of the fields and there are no foot paths dissecting any of the fields if this helps.

 

So what do you feel about maybe going for a higher caliber? am i being stupid? and also can you recommend any good reading on the subject?

 

George

 

Utter bull crap I fear. Galileo proved that in 1613. The standard story is he dropped light and heavy cannonballs off the Leaning Tower of Pisa at the same time and they hit the ground at the same time. You can believe as much of that as you like, but weight does NOT affect rate of fall due to gravity. No, you are not being stupid. There are many more factors involved than bullet weight, not least being velocity, frontal area, &c &c. You have no need to go beyond .243, in fact you might make problems for yourself. As Jamie said, pick your bullet weight to match your quarry. If you went for, say, .270 or 30-06 you would be using rounds that can kill at 1500 yards. You only need to think about .308 if you are planning to shoot Red or Sika in Scotland.

 

The great work to read on the subject is Isaac Newtion's Principia Mathematica. Unfortunately he published it in Latin . . .

 

Stick with .243 bro.

 

Ric

[ratattack 111]

Why didn't you get the 243 ,or what ever caliber you intend to buy, put onto the ticket before it was granted????? It will now cost you to put in for a variation at a cost of what is it 50 quid these days!!!

[Groach 7]

Why didn't you get the 243 ,or what ever caliber you intend to buy, put onto the ticket before it was granted????? It will now cost you to put in for a variation at a cost of what is it 50 quid these days!!!

its 26 i believe but my feo said i would be more likely to get it granted with less strict restructions so i thought it seems like a good idea to me

 

George

[Deker 3,478]

Why didn't you get the 243 ,or what ever caliber you intend to buy, put onto the ticket before it was granted????? It will now cost you to put in for a variation at a cost of what is it 50 quid these days!!!

its 26 i believe but my feo said i would be more likely to get it granted with less strict restructions so i thought it seems like a good idea to me

 

George

 

 

It's £26 unless something has changed VERY recently!

 

If you are talking about shooting in England/Wales then the .243 is a no brainer for what you want/need!

[HUnter_zero 58]

Now my problem is choosing what to apply for. It is for Roe and fox so .243 minimum i know but what i need to know is that as i have open flat land

George

 

You may not be granted any CF rifle for open/flat ground with little or no safe back stops, period.

A safe shot is a safe shot no matter what calibre of rifle you have in your hands. In safety terms a back stop is either safe or not and that would be for any calibre, in real terms this may no be so but at any rate and with out seeing your patch of land I would suggest you think about installing a few high seats which will provide a good safe back stop. If the rifle is only for use on Roe & Fox then a .243" with a suitable twist rate will do the job superbly and would be the one and only calibre to go for.

However if you also had the chance of a Muntjac or a Fallow which IMHO are both hard to put down, then I'd start to look at a sweet 6.5 or may be even a .25-06.

 

John

[Mr_Logic 5]

Maybe for a fallow, but munties fall over just fine with a 223 and a 50gr ballistic tip, so 243 is just fine...

[Deker 3,478]

Now my problem is choosing what to apply for. It is for Roe and fox so .243 minimum i know but what i need to know is that as i have open flat land

George

 

You may not be granted any CF rifle for open/flat ground with little or no safe back stops, period.

A safe shot is a safe shot no matter what calibre of rifle you have in your hands. In safety terms a back stop is either safe or not and that would be for any calibre, in real terms this may no be so but at any rate and with out seeing your patch of land I would suggest you think about installing a few high seats which will provide a good safe back stop. If the rifle is only for use on Roe & Fox then a .243" with a suitable twist rate will do the job superbly and would be the one and only calibre to go for.

However if you also had the chance of a Muntjac or a Fallow which IMHO are both hard to put down, then I'd start to look at a sweet 6.5 or may be even a .25-06.

 

John

 

 

John

 

I'm more than a little confused, was that a typo about Muntjac or have you really experienced problems putting down Muntjac with a .243?!